Houston family settles suit in son's binge-drinking deathThree UT frat members pleaded no contest to hazing

RUTH RENDON, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle |
July 15, 2008

Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath, shown with his sister, Marion, died from alcohol poisoning in 2005 after a fraternity party at the University of Texas at Austin.

Photo By KEVIN FUJII/CHRONICLE

Randall Sorrels, an attorney representing the family of Jack Phoummarath, shows photos at a news conference July 15 of fraternity members forcing Jack to smoke through his nose.

Photo By Billy Smith II/Houston Chronicle

The family of Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath, from left, father Khongsavay, mother Soukha, sister Marion and brother Ted Phoummarath, listen to their attorney, Randall O. Sorrels, in 2006 after the indictment of three University of Texas at Austin fraternity members on hazing charges one year after Jack's binge-drinking death.

The family of a University of Texas at Austin student who died after a fraternity binge-drinking party has agreed to a $4.2 million settlement in their lawsuit against the fraternity and some of its members.

The settlement, announced Tuesday by the family of Jack Phoummarath, provides money for an educational video and a scholarship in Phoummarath's memory.

The student's family sued the Lambda Phi Epsilon national and Austin chapters and some individual members.

"Initially, it was really, really difficult, the way he died. We were angry," said Phoummarath's sister, Marion. "Slowly, we're accepting the fact that he's gone. We want to prevent other deaths. That's why we wanted to develop this video."

Phoummarath, 18, was a freshman at UT when he was found dead on the afternoon of Dec. 10, 2005, in a garage apartment behind the fraternity house.

The fraternity had thrown an initiation party the previous day to celebrate the transition of pledges, including Phoummarath, to full membership.

An autopsy showed that Phoummarath died accidentally from alcohol poisoning.

According to the autopsy report, his blood-alcohol level was 0.41, more than five times the legal limit for driving in Texas.

Attorney Randall Sorrels said that, with the settlement proceeds, the Phoummarath family has created an educational video titled Enough is Enough.

The video is geared toward teens and young adults, to educate them on the dangers of hazing and binge drinking.

"We do not want Jack's death to be in vain, and by this educational program, we hope to save families in the future from the great despair we have suffered from the loss of our youngest son," the student's father, Khongsavay Phoummarath, said in a prepared statement.

The family also is working with UT officials to set up an $8,000 to $10,000 annual scholarship in Phoummarath's memory.

Three fraternity members — Benny Chan, Andrew Nguyen and Kamal Pulukuri — pleaded no contest in September to charges of hazing.

According to the plea agreement, Chan, 24, then-chapter president; Nguyen, 22, a former pledge captain; and Pulukuri, 23, the "Hell Master" for Phoummarath's pledge class, were assessed two years' deferred adjudication probation.

Each also was required to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine.

Criminal defendants who successfully complete the terms of deferred adjudication avoid final conviction, but the fact that they were charged remains a part of their record.

The three fraternity members also were ordered to participate in making the educational video on the dangers of "power drinking" and detail in an affidavit what happened during "Hell Weekend," when Phoummarath died.

"We hope that, through this case and these education opportunities, the dangerous activities that many fraternities sponsor will be curtailed," Sorrels said.

The Lambda Phi Epsilon chapter in Austin also agreed to surrender its charter until 2011 and pay a $5,000 fine.

Sorrels said a new law will go into effect Sept. 1 requiring all fraternity and sorority members, as well social organizations on Texas college campuses, to go through a risk management program.

The program will deal with issues including possession and use of alcoholic beverages and illegal drugs, hazing, sexual abuse and harassment.